Mount Helmer

Mount - Variation of Mountain: Mass of land prominently elevated above the surrounding terrain, bounded by steep slopes and rising to a summit and/or peaks. ["Mount" preceding the name usually indicates that the feature is named after a person.]

Named to remember Lieutenant Alexis Hannum Helmer, who was serving with the 1st Field Artillery, Canadian Overseas Expeditionary Forces, when he was killed in action 2 May 1915 at the 2nd Battle of Ypres. In 1920 the commemoration was extended to include Lieut. Helmer's father, the late Brigadier General Richard Alexis Helmer, who had been commandant of the Canadian School of Musketry, Ottawa, at the time of his death 1 February 1920. Helmer family historians recount that Lieut. Alexis Helmer's battlefield funeral had been conducted by Lieutenant Colonel John McCrea and provided the impetus for McCrae to write his poem "In Flanders Fields" during a lull in the fighting the following day.